Back in 1982 I bought a third party sculpted keyboard for my Coco 1. IIRC the keyboard was made by ALPS and someone soldered the right cable and connector onto it and sold them through an ad in a magazine. It was similar in style and feel to an Atari 800 keyboard and so, so much better than the Coco 1's chiclet keyboard!
While the Coco's original keyboard left a lot to be desired, it wasn't even that bad compared to some other low-cost home computers like the Atari 400, Timex Sinclair ZX80/81, Mattel Aquarius, Magnavox Odyssey 2 and many others. I have all of those machines now in my vintage collection and always encourage visitors looking at them to give typing on them a try. :-)
The Coco was my first computer and I think that keyboard was the first mod I ever did to it (the first of probably a dozen mods and add-ons I did in that Coco 1). To this day I still enjoy a good keyboard and have a variety of custom split mechs.
While the Coco's original keyboard left a lot to be desired, it wasn't even that bad compared to some other low-cost home computers like the Atari 400, Timex Sinclair ZX80/81, Mattel Aquarius, Magnavox Odyssey 2 and many others. I have all of those machines now in my vintage collection and always encourage visitors looking at them to give typing on them a try. :-)
The Coco was my first computer and I think that keyboard was the first mod I ever did to it (the first of probably a dozen mods and add-ons I did in that Coco 1). To this day I still enjoy a good keyboard and have a variety of custom split mechs.